Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church restoration.

The property

Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Spanish Revival building in San Diego — white stucco, red tile roof, traditional bell tower with cross, palm trees out front. The kind of San Diego church that’s been part of the neighborhood for decades.

Restoration painting on a church is different than a standard commercial repaint. There’s a liturgical schedule to respect — you can’t shut down Sunday services or major holidays. The architecture often has features that can’t be painted with a roller (the bell tower, the cross, the trim around stained glass). And the building’s a community fixture — the standard for “done right” is higher than a strip mall.

The work

Surface prep

Spanish Revival stucco that’s been on a building for decades has accumulated paint layers, hairline cracking, and weather damage. We started with a proper pressure wash to remove dirt, mildew, and chalking, then scraped any failing coating, addressed hairline cracks in the stucco with flexible patching compound, and spot-primed bare areas.

Application

Premium exterior paint applied to the body of the building. Trim and accent work — door frames, window casings, the bell tower elements — got dedicated brush and detail attention. The tile roof itself wasn’t in scope; the painting was the stucco, trim, and accent elements that frame the church’s architectural lines.

Scheduling around the church’s use

We coordinated the work around Sunday services, weekday meetings, and any community events the church had on the calendar. Restoration painting on a working church means the building can’t feel disrupted — drop cloths cleared before each service, scaffolding moved out of high-traffic walkways, daily cleanup more aggressive than usual.

The recognition

In 2018, the church gave Tony a Distinguished Service Award. The acrylic plaque sits on the wall in the office. It reads:

Tony Alyashai. Making a Difference In People’s Lives. For Distinguished Service to Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church. 2018.

We don’t have a wall of awards — we have this one. Tony cared about the work, the church cared about the building, and the result is on the wall.

What this project shows about how we work

• Real prep before paint. Restoration work on older stucco needs more than a pressure wash and a roller. Hairline crack treatment, spot-priming, accumulated-coating removal where the substrate needed it.
• Detail work by hand. Bell towers, trim around stained glass, and accent architecture get brush attention. Not everything sprays well.
• Respect for the property’s use. Working around Sunday services, holiday calendars, and the community schedule rather than treating the building as an empty shell.
• Project scope governed by the written proposal. Line-item documentation of work areas, prep, coating system, schedule, and protection plan. Company-supervised crews assigned by Tony’s Painting CA Inc.

Looking to repaint a church, school, or similar facility?

We work on churches, religious facilities, and community buildings across San Diego County. The scope is always custom — every church has different architecture, scheduling constraints, and standards. We’d be happy to walk your building and write a scope.